Engagement of 1st Year Engineering Students Through the Interaction with 4th year Product Development Projects

This paper presents the first intervention of the RESOLUT project, launched at ETSETB-TelecosBCN, the UPC School of Telecommunication Engineering to enhance student motivation and engagement through socially oriented, project and challenge-based learning. The initiative connects first-year engineering students with fourth-year students engaged in challenges proposed by companies and third-sector organizations. The intervention included a series of structured activities: presentations of the initial statements of the projects, collaborative design-thinking workshops, and final project showcases. The approach aimed to inspire early-year students, foster leadership among seniors, and strengthen interdisciplinary learning. Feedback from 68 out of 180 participants was very positive, with increasing satisfaction across the activities. The paper discusses the outcomes of this pilot and outlines plans to integrate these activities formally into the curriculum. RESOLUT serves as a replicable framework for aligning engineering education with societal needs and fostering early engagement in meaningful learning.